Fruitness launches pear campaign

The third three-year programme of the Fruitness, enjoy it! project, promoted by the CSO Fruit&Vegetable services and co-financed by the European Union and the Italian Government with the aim of encouraging young adults in the United Kingdom, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany to include more fruit in their diets, is about to end on a high note. In fact, January will see an intensive promotional campaign dedicated to one of the project's core fruit: pears.

This fruit, popular with adults and children alike for its sweet flavour and soft consistency, will be the focus of a tasty roadshow involving four German cities: Hannover, Göttingen, Münster and Essen.

Posters and billboards promoting the Abate Fétel variety, queen of pears, will be displayed from 12 to 16 January in more than 70 strategic points - mainly town centres and shopping centres. This variety, grown in the Emilia region of central-northern Italy, is named after a member of a religious order, "Abate" (Abbot in English) Fétel, who discovered it in the mid 19th century. Often large in size, these pears have a flask-like shape and a fine, smooth, thin skin. The fine-textured, white, juicy flesh, with a sweet-sour flavour, has a strong fragrance and is truly delicious.

To reach even more people, to coincide with the poster campaign a large number of “Fruitness, enjoy it!” promoters will be in the busiest parts of the four cities, distributing fruit-themed promotional gifts, answering questions and queries and above all inviting consumers to taste Abate Fétel pears.

The pear is both a core fruit of the Fruitness, enjoy it! project and one of the most popular fruits Europe-wide. The EU-28's biggest producers include Italy (723,000 tonnes), Spain (377,000), Belgium (347,000) and the Netherlands (327,000). Forecasts for the total EU-28 harvest for 2015 give a figure of 2,343,000 tonnes, with 334,000 tonnes for the Abate Fétel variety .

The pear is one of the core fruits of the Fruitness, enjoy it! project, which has been promoting fruit-eating through an approach based on fun and enjoyment since 2006. During its nine years in operation, the project has included programmes such as the creation of fruit-themed on-line games and smartphone apps, the organisation of point-of-sale tastings and the development of tools for making greengrocery departments more attractive and stimulating.

For further information: www.fruitness.eu